Latch device for floors of baby yards



Aug. 14, 1945. c. J. SCHIEMER LATCH DEVICE FOR FLOOR OF BABY YARDS FiledJan. '14, 1944 Wm g 5 Patented Aug. 14, 1945 LATCH DEVICE FOR FLOORS FBABY YARDS Charles J. Schiemer, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to Benner,Inc., Mountville, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application January14, 1944, Serial No. 518,251

6 Claims.

This invention relates to nursery furniture, and more particularly to animprovement which facilitates collapsing and storing baby yards or pens.

Devices of the type above referred to usually include an enclosureformed by side walls, certain' of which are collapsible or foldable andfioor sections hingedly connected to the nonfolding walls. credposition, not only form a complete base or floor but at the same timeassist in maintaining the proper angular relation of the walls when thedevice is in use. However, when it is desired to collapse the device forstorage, each floor section must be raised into parallel relation withthe related side Wall to which it is hinged, and, underordinarycircumstances, it is necessary for the party collapsing thedevice to use both hands to hold the floor sections elevated whileattemptin to inwardly collapse the side walls disposed at right anglesto'the Walls carrying the floor sections.

While it has heretofore been proposed to hold the floor sectionselevated with reference. to the side walls by crude expedients, such asleather tie-backs, or, alternatively, tying a string or cord to thefloor sections for the same purpose, nevertheless, no simple, safe,reliable, and practical means has been heretofore provided forautomatically holding the floor sections in elevated position by merelyraising them preliminary to collapsing the hinged side walls.

Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to provide means forholding the floor sections in elevated position prior to collapsing theside walls of the pen, said means automatically functioning by impactdue to elevating the floor sections with ordinary force toward the sidewall or frame. In that connection the invention contemplates a simpleform of pendulous latch device which will automatically function by themere act of swinging the floor section parallel to its related sidewall, said device presenting no hazards when not in use, and, therefore,not exposing the child using the pen to injury.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and practicalform of latch device which may be economically made and installed andwhich will last the life of the article itself.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangements of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the Said floor sections, intheir low- 7 invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a baby yard or pen embodying. thepresent invention.

Figure 2' is a detail vertical sectional view showing the pendulouslatch device in its. normal position and about to be engaged by the.edgeof a floor section.

Figure. 3 is a view similar to Figure. 2 showing the latch device inactuated position, that is, engaging the edge of the floor section. 1

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts through theseveral figures of the drawing;

Referring to Figure 1, itwill be observed that the yard or pen comprisesthe side walls AA'- and the side walls B--B, said side walls preferablyincluding spaced verticallydisposedslats The walls or bars and top andbottom rails. AA have the floor section C and C connected thereto by thehinges C The: side. walls 3-3 are usually hinged as at B to break.inwardly" and are provided with suitable hooks or catchdevices' D formaintaining the walls straight and in erect. position when the pen is inuse. When it is desired to collapse the devicefor storage, it is firstnecessary to lift the floor sections C and C and then move the sidewallsB andB inwardly at the hinges B after the latches D which will functionso as to automatically engagethe edge of its related floor sectionawhen-thelatter is raised.

As will be observed more particularly from Figures 2 and 3, the latchdevice'consistsof a body or shank portion 3' formed with an eyehav-- ingan opening 4 to receive the mounting element, which, for example, may bethe rod 2 or its equivalent. The end of the body opposite the eye isprovided with a horizontal head which includes the oppositely extendedarm portions 6: and l. The outer end 8 of the arm 6 constitutes: animpactreceivin or striking face and the in-- cluded angle r between theshank or body 3 and:

the upper surface of the arm I constitutes: a floor-engaging hook. Fromthe foregoing 1 description and the drawing, it will be apparent" thatthe latch device l is" of substantially inverted T-shaped'formationandis freely 'swingable, ina plane normal to thesidewall, onthe That is to say, it is proposed to support or rod 2, in an openingformed in the side wall, said opening, in the example shown, beingformed by a pair of adjacent slats.

When the floor sections C are lowered, the latch device I assumes theposition shown in full lines in Figure 2. However, when it is desired tocollapse the pen, it is only necessary to lift a floor section until theupper edge thereof strikes the impact surface 8 thereby imparting aswinging movement to the pendulous latch body so as to swing it from itsnormal position through an arc of approximately 270 until the hook a:formed by the included angle of the shank and the upper surface of thearm 1 engage over the edge of the floor section. The floor sections needonly be moved upwardly with a relatively quick snapping motion in orderto impart swinging movement to the latch and caus the floor section tobe automatically held in elevated position. When both floor sections areelevated, with respect to their related side walls, the catches D may bereleased and the side wall sections B and B folded inwardly on thehinges B The latch device I may be made of metal or any other suitablematerial, such as any of the available synthetic plastics, or may evenbe made of wire. Its essential characteristic is that it has an impactsurface lying to one side of the center of gravity of the latch so thatwhen said surface is struck by the ascending floor section, movementwill be imparted thereto to effect latching engagement with the floorsection. Of course, when 'it is desired to open up the pen for use, itis only necessary to swing the latch in such a direction as to releasethe hook portion from the edge of the floor section and the latter maybe permitted to fall to the desired normal horizontal position.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides a novel pendulous latch device which gravitates to its normalposition, but which, when actuated by impact from a floor section willautomatically engage and hold a floor section in its elevated position,that is, parallel to the side wall to which it is hinged. In this way,the hands of the operator are entirely free to manipulate the side wallsof the pen without interference from the floor sections, thereby greatlyfacilitating the collapsing operation.

I claim:'

1. In a baby pen, the combination with a side wall having an opening anda floor section hinged thereto for swinging movement into a planeparallel to the said side wall section, of a latch device pivotallysupported by the side wall in'said opening and swingable in said openingin a plane normal to said side wall, said device comprising a bodyhaving a top pivot opening and a bottom head portion at right anglesthereto, said head portion including oppositely extending arms whoseinner faces form included angles with respect to the body, the outer endof one of said arms serving as an impact surface adapted to be engagedby the floor section when in motion to impart angular movement to thelatch about the axis of its pivot opening thereby to bring one of saidincluded angles of the body into holding engagement with the edge of thefloor section.

2. In a baby pen, the combination with a side wallhaving an opening anda floor section hinged thereto for swinging movement into a planeparallel to the said side wall section, of a latch device comprising abody of substantially inverted T-shaped formation to provide a shank andopposite arms, said device having the upper end of its shank pivoted'toa side wall of the pen and swingable in said opening in a plane normalto the side wall, whereby, when a floor section hinged to the side wallcarrying the latch device is swung upwardly, the said floor section willengage the end of one arm of the latch device to impart angular rotarymovement thereto and swing the opposite arm into holding engagement withthe edge of the floor section.

3. In a baby pen, the combination with a side wall having an opening anda floor section hinged thereto for swinging movement into a planeparallel to the said side wall section, of a latch device comprisingbody of substantially inverted T-shaped formation pendulously supportedon a side wall and swingable in said opening in a plane normal to theside wall, said device having its center of gravity lying substantiallywithin the plane of said side wall whereby one outer end of the head ofthe T projects inwardly of the side wall so that when a floor sectionhinged to the side wall is raised toward said side wall, the said floorsection will engage the inwardly projecting end of the T and impartrotary motion to the latch device to swing the opposite side of the Tinto holding engagement with the floor section.

4. In a collapsible baby pen, the combination with a side wall having anopening and a floor section hinged to the lower portion thereof, wherebythe free edge of said section may swing upwardly toward said side wall,of a latch device endulously carried by said side wall and having afloor-engaging portion, said device swingable in said opening in a planenormal to said side wall and including means adapted to be struck by thefree edge of the floor section when the latter is swung intosubstantially parallel rela tion to said side wall to be set in motionto cause the floor-engaging portion to engage and hold the floor sectionin' elevated position.

whereby one hook will embrace the side 5. In a collapsible baby pen, thecombination with a side wall having an opening formed by spaced slatsand a floor section hinged adjacent the lower edge of said wall andhaving its free edge adapted to be swung upwardly toward the wall, of apivoted floor latch freely suspended from said side wall and swingablein said opening in a plane normal to the side wall, said latch having aportion lying in the path of movement of the free edge of said floorsection and adapted to be engaged thereby to be swung automatically intoholding engagement with the free edge of the floor section.

6. In a baby pen the combination with a side wall, and a floor sectionhinged to the lower portion of said side wall for elevation into a planesubstantially parallel thereto, of a horizontal rod element forming partof said side wall and located above the floor section, a latch deviceincluding a shank rotatably supported at one end on said rod andshiftable from an inoperative non-latching position to an operativefloorengaging latching position, said latch device including portionsdisposed at right angles to the shank and at the end of the latteropposite the end supported on the rod, thereby forming hooks, saidfloor'section when elevated striking and imparting rotary movement tosaid latch and bottom of the floor section.

CHARLES J. SCHIEMER.

